n/a
This invention relates to an apparatus for swimming pools, namely, a vertically moveable swimming pool floor.
Swimming pools present serious dangers to small children, the elderly, the disabled, and others who do not have the ability to swim. Because most pools are configured to accommodate both diving and swimming, the depth of a pool must be adequate to safely allow users to dive into the pool. Yet, even very shallow water can be deadly to those incapable of swimming.
Pools often provide a shallow, wading depth at one end, safe enough for non-swimmers, and provide a deeper swimming and diving depth at the opposite end. This requires greater time, effort and expense in laying out and constructing the swimming pool floor, as a sloped floor is inherently more difficult to construct than a flat one.
Nevertheless, the swimming pool presents a serious drowning hazard to small children or the disabled who may accidentally fall into the pool. Another hazard exists when the pool itself is emptied of water for cleaning or maintenance, presenting a dangerous structural cavity or pit.
It is desirable therefore, to provide a device which may effectively vary the depth of a swimming pool, without requiring the construction of a curved, sloped, or otherwise complex swimming pool shell, and which may effectively minimize the depth of a pool when such pool is emptied of water.
Furthermore, the planform area of a swimming pool may significantly decrease the usable area of a yard or other space where the pool is located. For personal and home applications, this decrease in usable planform area can be significant. Conventional devices and methods for covering a swimming pool generally use flexible thin covers such as tarpaulins. Unless a sufficiently rigid device is used to cover the pool, the planform area of the swimming pool is not effectively usable for any other purpose than as a swimming pool.
It is desirable therefore to provide a device which may render the planform area of a swimming pool usable for a purpose other than swimming or diving, where the pool is covered by a rigid medium suitable for walking, sitting, or playing thereupon.
A vertically moveable swimming pool floor apparatus includes a rigid planar platform configured to fit the panform area of a swimming pool, and a plurality of hydraulically powered hoists coupled to the platform to raise and lower the platform. A number of depth indicators are attached to the platform. A control system is coupled to the hoists to monitor and control the movement and position of the platform.